The Visitor
by Radar-rox
Summary: There is a knock on the door of the boosh flat and a suprise in store for Vince and Tara. Taboo.
1. Chapter 1

**Thays right mon petit amis, new story up! I'm working on a non-tara oneshot as well but I think as long as I dont get writers block on this, I'm gonna stick with it then do the other one afterwards.**

**Disclaimer: all Boosyness owned by Noel and Julian, Tara owned by me**

_She hurried through the city, looking fearfully behind her….

* * *

_

'I don't care about repeats of _Cheaters,_ I told you earlier I wanted to watch the new _Brainiac_ and you said it was fine!' cried Howard.

'Its my telly too!' Vince cried back.

'Stop monopolising the telly Vince, you're always the one watching it, and there's hardly anything on I ever want to watch. It's one night Vince, one hour in fact.'

Throughout all this, Naboo and Tara had been squeezed into the wicker chair, oblivious to the world around them, which was simply acting as a backdrop to each other.

'I think about you, and its like, everything stops, y'know?' He smiled back at her knowingly. 'I like that feeling. Not always safe when driving though.'

They kissed again, leaning deeper into the cushion.

'Oi, you two!' called Vince, causing them to break apart. 'We're putting it to a vote, what d'you want, Cheaters or Brainiac?'

'Brainiac, totally, I haven't seen it for ages!' said Tara. She was in town for a weeks visit, before going down to Cornwall for a gig.

'Naboo?' asked Howard.

The shaman shrugged. 'I don't mind.'

'Choose one, will ya, or it'll be a tie, Bollo wants Cheaters too.'

'Brainiac, then.' He said. Vince glared at him and Tara as though they'd been plotting to conspire against him all along.

'Fine.' He said grumpily. However, he was soon converted after watching Jon Tickle walk on a swimming pool full of custard.

They spent the rest of the evening watching movies, Tara and Naboo still absorbed in each other. Eventually it was only the pair of them and Vince left. Not wanting to be _too_ public-displays-of-affection now that Vince had no-one else to talk to, they'd broken apart and were chatting idly with him inbetween watching the telly.

After a while, Naboo stirred, and declared he was ready for bed. 'You coming?' he asked Tara.

'Yeah! 'Night Vince.'

'Night' he called, before realising what had just happened. Tara sleeping in Naboo's bedroom? Sleeping _with_ Naboo? He knew that they'd shared a bed before, but after they way they'd been acting together tonight, he wasn't sure sleeping would be all they were doing. He shifted a little and focused all his attention on the _South Park_ he was watching.

'Let us out!'

_He kissed her neck and pulled her top upwards….._

'Get back. Get back or you're all gonna get maced!'

_She raised her arms and it slid easily over her smooth skin…._

'What's up, man?! You can't keep us down here like this!'

_She led back on the bed before him…_

'What's wrong with you?!'

_He crawled on top of her….._

'What's wrong is that there's more of you showing up every day and I need to find out why!'

_She loosened the belt that held his robes tight around him…_

'What makes you think you could tell us where to live?!'

_He kissed the skin of her neck, moving down over her breasts…._

'This is a free country, man!'

_Clothes fell to the floor around the bed…_

'Brah, I'm not gonna argue with you, all right? Just go with it.'

* * *

As the first rays of sunlight crept over the far horizon, Tara emerged with her hair was sticking up in all directions, some previously unknown to man, and padded over to the sink to pour herself a glass of water. Turning round, she saw that the TV was still on, and Vince was just stirring on the sofa at the noise. 'Muuh..' he said, waking.

'Have you been here all night Vince?' she asked, taking a sip from her glass.

'Hmm? Yeah, I fell asleep I guess.' He looked at her, hair all over the place and hastily wrapped in a dressing gown. She seemed to be having a hard time stopping herself from permanently grinning, and instead hid her face behind the glass as she took another sip. He then looked back at the half-open door to Naboo's room. She half-smiled and shrugged a little. Vince nodded. 'Don't ever tell me.'

'Deal.'

They both headed back to bed to grab a few more hours sleep until the morning….. the proper morning.

**A/N – I know I said 'new' Brainiac and the custard things really old but I couldn't think of anything else. Besides, it's a classic!**

**Note to you young impressionable types – Naboo and Tara practiced safe shaman sex, and so should you (although you could leave out the shaman part if you wanted). Here's a rhyme to help you remember, that always used to make my friend Fran laugh – 'Don't be daft, don't be silly, put a condom on your willy!'**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all reviews, here's chapter 2 (hopefully - ff's been being stupid again and lied about uploading it last time)**

_They were drawing closer to her, she could feel it…

* * *

_

Tara stirred at around nine thirty. Naboo, who'd woken about ten minutes earlier and had since been watching her sleep, swept a stray strand of hair from her face and kissed her.

'Mmm.' She moaned softly, returning the kiss. 'That's probably gotta be the best way to wake up. 'Morning.' She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

'Hey.' She kissed her again and they lay together a little while.

'Much as I love this,' she announced. 'I really feel the need to shower.'

'Me too. You wanna go first?'

She thought. 'We could go together?'

He stepped into the bath and switched the shower on while she rummaged through her toiletries bag for shower gel and shampoo. She joined him as steam engulfed the small bathroom and they embraced, their wet bodies sliding over each other as each massaged foamy shower gel and shampoo into the others body and head.

Naboo massaged the cherry-scented gel into Tara's back and torso, kissing the parts of her neck that weren't covered in foam. He felt the hot water running down his body, warming it as Tara warmed his heart.

Half an hour later in the living room, there was a knock at the door.

'I'll get it' called Tara, as she was up anyway making tea. She bounded down the stairs and opened the door. Stood there was a woman, who was probably about fifty, but had aged well. She was pretty, with green eyes and long curly hair which was so dark a brown that it might actually have been black.

She had been looking down the street, but now turned back towards the door. 'Oh, hello. I'm looking for Vince Noir?'

'Oh sure.' Said Tara, assuming it was another fashion photographer trying to arrange a shoot. Vince loved having his picture taken, it was 'what being in a band's all about', according to him. 'Come on up.'

She invited the woman inside and led the way up the stairs. 'Would you like a drink of anything?'

'No thank you, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay for.'

As they reached the top of the stairs, Tara walked back to the kitchen, calling to Vince as she went. 'Vince, you've got a visitor.'

He turned on the sofa to look. His face hardened. 'Get out.'

A timid smile played at the corners of her mouth. 'I wasn't sure you'd recognise me'

'Get out.' He said again

Howard and Naboo, curious at Vince's reaction, turned around as well, but neither of them seemed to know who the woman was.

'Vince, I just-' she began.

'I don't care, I don't care why you're here or what you want, just get out.'

Tara took a step towards the sofa. 'Vince, what's going on?'

'Nothing.' He glanced at her, then back at the mysterious woman. He was about to speak again as Bollo emerged from the bathroom wearing a floral pink towel around his middle.

'Tara, where you put shampoo you said I-' he stopped when he saw the scene in the living room.

The woman's eyes had moved from Vince, and were now fixed on Tara. 'Tara?' she whispered, then asked again louder. 'You're Tara Noir?'

'Don't you dare talk to her!' Vince cried at the woman.

'How do you know me?' asked Tara, ignoring her brother.

'I'm your mother' the woman replied.

**Ooooooh, talk about your cliffhanger ending, eh? Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all reviews, chapters might take a little longer now while I get thinks sorted in my head and everything (plus I have boring schoolwork to do, grr! At least I have the Cure to listen to.. well anyway, on with the story)**

Tara was frozen from shock. Howard hovered awkwardly over the sofa, half sitting, half standing, while Naboo moved to Tara's side and took her hand. Vince was sat deliberately facing away from the woman.

Tara shook her head a little. 'You're… no. No. You can't be.'

She then looked at Vince. He nodded curtly, and spoke ina low voice, trying to keep his temper at the unexpected intrusion under control. 'S'true.'

She gripped Naboo's hand tightly. 'What are you doing here?'

'Well, I… I came to see Vince, but… you're here…I never thought… I didn't even know where to look for you.'

As Howard wondered whether that many ellipses in one sentence could be grammatically correct, Vince jumped up. 'So what? We don't wanna see ya alright?! We've been fine, twenty one years, we've got along just fine without you! We don't want you here, so get out!'

He stood glaring at her. Tara, ignoring him, asked her mother why she wanted to find Vince.

'I always wanted to come back, to find you, both of you. The reason its taken so long is that I didn't want to drag my life, all the danger, into yours and mess things up for you. I thought you'd have a better life without me. And now… now things are better. And I wanted to find both of you, but I couldn't find _you_ anywhere. You live here with Vince?'

'I'm visiting. I live in a van.' Her mother raised her eyebrows. 'Its better than it sounds.'

Vince decided that he'd had enough, that Tara could see their mother if she wanted to, but he certainly didn't. 'I'm off.' He said, grabbing a jacket from the hook and running downstairs.

'Vince, I-' started his mother, but she was cut off as the front door slammed.

'Leave him' said Howard and Tara together. 'He just needs some time to cool off.'

They stood awkwardly for a moment, none sure of what to say until Tara spoke again. 'Um, this is Howard, Bollo and Naboo.' She nodded to each of them in turn. 'This is.. um….' She looked down in disbelief. 'You know what, I don't even know… Vince always just called you mum and I don't even know your name… I'm sorry, I gotta...'

She hurried into Naboo's room, followed by the shaman after he'd instructed their visitor to stay in the flat.

Tara lay on her back on the bed, looking as though someone had thrown about five conflicting emotions into a blender, turned it on and thrown the result at her face. He sat next to her on the bed, lifting her head into his lap and stroking her hair as they talked.

'God, that just…. It came out of nowhere, y'know? I'm just not ready for that, especially not now. I'd hoped that this week would be special, just about me and you, and now she's turned up, its gonna ruin things. And she should've known that, y'know? Well ok, perhaps not known, but she should've been aware that we were together, and that this weekend was supposed to be special, she should've recognised me first of all, and she should've… been my mum.' She finished sadly, looking down.

Naboo reached for her hand and kissed it. 'This week can still be special,' he assured her. 'And I know she's been away for all this time and that must've been hard, but she's here now, and she can still be your mum if you let her. You can still have all that 'normal life' stuff if you want it.'

'Normal life? I have a boyfriend whose a shaman and keeps a DJing gorilla as a familiar, a brother whose practically a woman and has a deep sea transsexual merman in love with his best friend. But I wouldn't change a thing. C'ept maybe making my arse a little better.' She finished thoughtfully.

'You've gotta stop saying that, you have a great arse.'

'You have to say that, you're my boyfriend.'

'Not all boyfriends would say that' he reasoned.

'Like who?'

He scrunched up his face in the way she loved so much. 'Hitler?'

'I suppose. He wouldn't like an arse unless it had blonde hair and blue eyes. Actually, a blonde arse with blue eyes would actually be… quite weird.'

He laughed a little with her, then slid down to lie next to her, gazing up at the ceiling in thought.

'What's up?'

'I was thinking about 'boyfriend''

'You have a boyfriend?' She gasped in mock horror.

He smirked. 'His names Trevor and he lives in Wales breeding antelope, but that's not important. I dunno, its just, 'boyfriend' sounds so…'

'High school?' she offered

'Well, yeah.'

'I know, I thought we're a bit too old to be boyfriend and girlfriend as well, you especially, but what else can we say? 'Partner' is more our age I suppose, but its always sounded kinda gay to me, don't you think? Like 'oh this is Jackie and her partner Karen'…'

'Hmm. Well, I'm me and you're you, and that's all that really matters.' He said.

'Well put sir.' She said pompously, and kissed him. 'I need to go' she said, sitting up a little.

'What? Why?'

'Because. That's what I do if things get too much, and I need to clear my head, I go out in the van. Running away when there's a problem. And when I get back, the problems usually gone.' She stayed on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

'So why aren't you going?'

'Because. I always sorta accepted it about her, y'know, that it was just me and Vince, and that was usually fine. But now and again, I would wonder about her, and it's the part of me that wondered that's keeping me here.'

'If you need to go and sort your head out, you should.'

She reluctantly agreed with him, knowing that even though she did still partly want to talk to her mother, she was feeling so confused at the moment that it probably wouldn't help anything.

As soon as Tara got inside the van though, she realised that before she went anywhere, she needed to talk to Vince. Glad that he took his mobile phone everywhere with him, she rang him to find out where he was. Seven minutes later, she found him sat on a nearby park bench, looking unhappy. She hated seeing Vince unhappy, because he was usually so lively and cheerful that if he was ever down, it meant that something had really gotten to him.

'Hey.' She said, sitting next to him on the bench, unsure of what to say next. He spoke first, however.

'Is she still there?'

'Yeah. She was when I left anyway.' He didn't reply. 'You feeling as torn as I am?'

He looked at her, blue eyes peering out from beneath a black fringe.

She explained. 'I mean, you're right, she turns up out of nowhere after twenty one years and expects to just pick up from where she left off, but… on the other hand, she is our mum. Haven't you wondered.. I mean, the way you talked about her in Paris….'

'That was looking back, and… its what you wanted to hear, right?'

'So it wasn't true?'

'No, it was, but that was only some of the time. Seeing her again like that just brought back all the bad stuff.'

'What bad stuff?'

He sighed. 'When she left us that night, it- it wasn't the first time. She used to do it quite a lot, get us- well, it was mostly before you were born so it was just me, but.. we'd get up in the middle of the night, run out and I'd have to stay somewhere while she lead them, whoever they were, away. Sometimes we'd have to move town and everything. It didn't happen a lot, but it was often enough. She'd always come back though, except for that last time.'

Tara wiped a silent tear from her cheek. It wasn't from self-pity, but from sorrow for her brother. She'd avoided all of that mess, and had lead a happy childhood with Vince and Bryan, but he'd had to go through all that, for the first eight years of his life.

She knew that she had nothing to say that would make things better, so instead she shuffled closer to him and squeezed his hand. 'What are we gonna do about her?'

'Its like you said, innit? She's turned up out of nowhere, but she is our mum.'

'We're gonna give her a chance then?'

'I guess.'

They walked back to the flat to find that their mother, whose name was Vienne, had left the flat, leaving a message with Howard that she would be back tomorrow if that was ok.

**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapters taken a while longer than the others, I know. I've been having a bit of trouble with it, and I think I've got things straight now but other chapters will probably be at least as long as this one has because I've got exams and stuff. But anyway, enough of my excuses, one quick note concerning the story then I'll leave you to it.**

**Ok, so, there's gonna be flashbacks in italics (you've had snippets of the first one already), and ****they're going backwards (just to confuse you until you're so bewildered that you think the Sheila's Wheels advert was a smart piece of marketing). But stick with them, because they tell a story. Just not in the traditional timeline…**

'_Hurry up sweetie'_

'_I'm trying mummy.'_

'_I know you are' She glanced around again, holding the bundle she was clutching closer to herself. 'Down here sweetie.' She turned and lead the way through a network of alleyways, ending up in one from which the main road could be seen. 'Stay down here, ok Vince? Someone will find you.' _

'_OK mummy' The eight-year-old Vince replied obediently. 'When are you coming back?'_

_She looked sadly at him. 'I don't know if I will this time sweetie,' she said, stroking his hair. 'But if its possible, I'll see you as soon as I can, ok?'_

_She handed him the bundle. It was a baby, wrapped in blankets. It stirred. 'Its ok Tara.' He whispered._

'_Vince.' She said, making him look up at her again. 'Make sure you look after Tara, don't let __**anything **__happen to her, ok? Don't let anyone hurt her.'_

'_Ok mummy, I promise.' He shifted his sister in his arms, then looked up at his mother with huge blue eyes._

'_Please mummy, please stay.' He begged._

_Tears made her eyes swim. 'I cant Vince, its too dangerous, I want you and Tara to be safe. It'll be ok, Vince, I promise.' _

_She hated having to leave them like this, especially Tara, she was so young. Although, Vince was young as well, he was only eight after all. She knew that he'd take good care of Tara though, he loved her more than anything. _

_She got up and ran back down the alleyway, turning right at the end. Watching, Vince saw four other figures hurry along the end of the lane behind her.

* * *

_

It was Vince who let Vienne in the next morning. He was still feeling resentful towards her but decided to give her a chance, more for Tara's sake than anything – he knew she wanted a chance to get to know their mother better even if he didn't, and he wanted to give it to her.

Vienne smiled gently at him. She was still a little wary that he might start shouting again, and could tell that he wasn't too enthused about her being there. But he'd let her in and that was a start. Besides, he was probably feeling resentful about being abandoned all those years ago. If only he knew…

Tara was stood in the living room looking apprehensive, stood next to Naboo, who Vienne had been briefly introduced to the previous day. Howard and Bollo, the other two, were nowhere in sight.

'Hi' said Tara, waving awkwardly. Vienne smiled and nodded back in the manner Tara was so used seeing Vince respond. 'So… why do you want to find us?'

'I want to get to know you, both of you. It's what I always wanted, really' she said, glancing at Vince to make sure he understood that she was sincere. 'It just.. took a lot longer than I'd hoped it might.'

'What do you want to know?'

'Everything, really. I want to know everything I should know.'

Vince and Tara told their mother much of what had happened to the two of them since she'd left them, sometimes taking it in turns but usually talking over each other, smiles lighting up their faces as they reminisced. Vienne laughed with them, but tears occasionally appeared in her eyes as she wished she could have been there to watch her children grow.

Naboo asked why it was that Vienne had abandoned Vince and Tara in the first place. With a deep sigh, she began to tell the tale.

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all lovely reviews, I actually have an idea for this now (I was at a bit of a loss for a moment back there) so hopefully I'll be able to get it done a bit quicker (who needs revision eh?)**

_She cradled her 3-day-old son in her arms, singing softly to him. There was a knock at the door, and she stood up to open it. Outside was her worst fear – and one that she'd doubted would ever knock._

_She was dressed in along flowery dress that would have looked quite pretty on anyone else, but on her, it just looked totally out of place. The soul that lurked underneath should be wearing black, barbed wire and a warning sign._

'_Ah' Said Elsie. 'I see you're all ready for me. I'll just take that then' she said, reaching for Vince._

_Vienne slammed the door in her face and looked frantically around her for some way of escape. _Shit_, she thought. No time to grab anything she needed, she held baby Vince close to her and climbed out of the back window and ran down the street. She wasn't getting Vince, no way. She wasn't supposed to have a kid, but that wasn't the point. Even though he wasn't planned, she still loved him, and Elsie wasn't having him, agreement or no agreement.

* * *

_

They sat back on the sofa, amazed by what Vienne had just told them. Vince especially was feeling rather lost in emotions – all this time that he had thought that she had left them because she didn't love them, and now that had all been turned upside down, she'd done it to save them, so save him. It was hard to suddenly accept this after all this time.

He wanted to talk to someone about it, one-on-one. Not Vienne. Howard was out with Bollo. He scoffed at the little at the thought of the two of them out alone together – they got on alright, but they were probably the two members of the group who were the least close to each other. Tara had Naboo to talk to now, which means he spoke to both of them less. He was happy for the both of them of course, but he missed them a little, even though he still saw Naboo every day, and he actually saw Tara more now. But still.. it was times like this that he needed someone to talk to, and as far as he saw it, no-one to listen.

'What about our dad, I mean, do we even have the same dad?' asked Tara.

'Yes, you've both got the same dad. He's… he's not in my life any more. He wasn't around a lot anyway, but.. he's gone.' The way she spoke was rather final, so the others didn't press the matter.

They went over a few aspect of the story again, until there was a knock at the door.

'Ah, I bet Howard's forgotten his keys again' said Vince, going to answer it.

As Vince reached the bottom of the stairs, Naboo sensed a very dark power close by. He hurried to the banister at the top of the stairs and looked down. He couldn't see who was at the door, but knew for sure now that it was them that he could sense. Too late to warn Vince, he turned to Tara. 'Go hide in my room, now'

'What, what are you talking about?'

'Just do it!' he commanded, looking fearfully back at the door.

Tara was a little curious about who it was at the door and why Naboo was so worried, but she knew that he knew her well enough not to ask her to hide somewhere without having a damn good reason. She hurried into his room, closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Vince was questioning their new visitor as to their purpose at the flat - apparently she was there to see Vienne. 'How did you know she was here?'

'I heard from.. friends' said the woman.

Vince was suspicious, because of what he'd just heard from his mother. 'I dunno..'

The woman, whose name was Elsie, knew that it was gonna take more than charm to get into this flat. She fixed Vince with a solid stare, and his face went blank as he stepped back from the door. He didn't recover until she'd reached the top of the stairs.

He swayed slightly as he came round and slammed the door, hurrying up the stairs behind her.

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

'_You took him'_

'_What are you so angry about, you didn't even love him! You hated him!'_

'_I hated what he was, he was an abomination, an affront to nature!' she spat. 'The world wouldn't have accepted him, he should've stayed with me where I could keep an eye on him!'_

_She advanced towards Vienne, who was still slumped on the floor. 'And now.. because you've taken him away, I'm going to take you away from your parents. And the rest of the living world.' She lifted the knife._

'_No, please!' cried Vienne. 'You can't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, ok? Please, no!'_

_Elsie considered the girl, crouched before her on the floor. To kill her now would mean instant gratification, but there could be another way._

'_Very well.' She said, drawing herself up to her full height and circling her once more. 'In that case, you shall have to owe me something.'_

'_I shall take...' she looked as though she would rather like some ominous chords here, such as were present in the Knights of Ni scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail, but unfortunately none were forthcoming. She continued anyway. 'Your first child. You took mine from me, I shall take yours from you.'_

_Vienne looked shocked, and for a moment the expression was genuine, but then she was forced to keep it there to mask the relief. She never planned to have kids. She was her own woman, she wouldn't be bound by a nest of offspring. _

_This called for a little acting. 'But… no, I can't..'_

'_It is either that, or death now.' She said simply._

'_But I..' she whispered, concentrating all her energy into trying to summon some tears. 'I suppose.. if it's the only way..'_

'_Then its settled!' she said finally. 'You shall go free. But remember, when you have your child, I'll know. And I'll find you.'_

'_Know? How?' _

'_Oh, a mother knows…'_

_Vienne had the sneaking suspicion that there was more to Elsie than there seemed, but she was so relieved to have escaped death that she wasn't too concerned about that for the time being.

* * *

_

Tara shut the door behind her and leant against it, exhaling deeply.

She wondered what it was that had got Naboo so worried, without even talking to whoever was at the door. She assumed that's what it was that had him worried, anyway. _Perhaps it's the TV detector man_ she thought with a smirk, realising that she hadn't watched the Young Ones for a while.

She looked around the empty room. She wished that Vince was here with her, she would've liked to have been able to speak with him without Naboo and Vienne present. She wanted to make sure he was ok. It must be confusing for him to have this past danger thrust upon him out of nowhere. It was a little confusing for her as well of course, but this was much more about him.

She was having a great time with Naboo, but she did miss the time she spent with Vince. She made a mental note to have a little time with just him soon, tomorrow maybe. Provided that whatever was outside had been dealt with by then of course. It was often hard to tell with these things. Once Naboo had told her of an ancient conflict over a coffee mug that had gone on for thirty years.

Her mind inevitably wandered back to what her mother had told them. That Elsie sounded crazy. Mind you, from what the others had told her, it seemed to run in the family. She hoped her own family didn't turn out quite as mad. Although, aside from Vince, she'd always pretty much considered her friends as her family and they were pretty mad in her opinion. In a good way though, not in a deadly or kidnapping way or anything.

She shuffled over to the bed, wishing she knew what was going on outside and considering climbing out of the window. _Nah_, she thought. _It's a bit of a drop_. Besides, Naboo will have had a good reason for her to be in there, primarily to keep her safe she supposed. Ah, Naboo. Of all the people in the world, she was so happy he'd chosen her to be with. Actually, he wasn't as restricted to earth as most other people, so it should really be of all the people/aliens/highly intelligent and attractive plants in the universe, he'd chosen her. She must be doing something right somewhere then.

She rolled onto her side and let the spicy scent of him dance around her nose as she waited for someone to let her out.

**Please Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to reviewers! This is the final chapter. Its super-long to make up for the wait! (Plus i had a lot more to squeeze in than I'd realised!)**

_There was a knock at the door. Vienne went to answer it, as she was up anyway making tea._

_Stood outside was Elsie, looking furious. 'What have you done?' she said in a cold, rasping voice._

'_What do you mean?'_

'_This!' she thrust a note into Vienne's hand and she read it quickly. _He did it!_ she thought. _I can't believe it. _'I didn't do anything, I was just his friend.'_

'_You did, it was your fault, I know it! A freak like that shouldn't be running around, he should be kept locked away!'_

'_Just because you're ashamed of him doesn't mean anyone else will be!' Countered Vienne._

'_I will have my son back' Elsie said. 'And if I don't…'_

'_What are you gonna do, kill me?' smirked Vienne. Elsie simply looked at her.

* * *

_

Elsie strode purposefully up the stairs, moving quickly for someone who looked as old and frail as she did. Vince followed, pausing at the top of the stairs, apparently wondering where Tara was. Naboo quietly signalled to him not to say anything about it, and he nodded slightly to show he understood. As soon as Elsie reached the living room, her eyes fixed on Vienne. 'Hello my dear.'

'Get out'

'That's no way to talk to your elders Vienne. Although you never did have that many manners'

Vienne stood her ground but Naboo could sense the terror in her. He moved quietly to her side. Vince lingered for a moment before following.

Naboo hoped Elsie wouldn't realise Vienne had another child hidden in his bedroom. He knew that the deal was only for Vince, but he doubted that a woman with a soul as black as Elsie's would take such minor details into account.

Elsie eyed the two men stood either side of Vienne. 'Which one of you is dear young Vincent ?' They were silent. 'Let me seen then…' she studied Vince and Naboo closely, before turning to Vince. 'It must be you,' she smiled with a false sweetness. 'You on the other hand' she said to Naboo, 'are also very interesting. You're very close to my dear friends the Noirs, aren't you? Only I can't quite work out why.' Naboo kept his face and mind tranquil, in case Elsie could read minds. He could sense a lot of dark power in her, but he wasn't sure just what she was capable of yet.

'Well then' said Elsie briskly. 'I'm afraid I'd _love_ to stay and have a chat, but I must be getting on. So I'll just take you' she said, lifting an arm towards Vince, who froze, apparently unable to move. 'And be on my way.'

Vienne looked heartbroken but couldn't seem to move either – not because of Elise, but through fear and despair.

Naboo had to act quickly. He put a hand on Vienne's back to establish a contact. _Vienne, I'm pretty sure we can get rid of her, but you need to be the one to do it. I can channel my energy through you to give you the power to do it, ok?_ Vienne managed to nod slightly.

By now, Elsie had turned towards the stairs and had begun to drag Vince with her.

'Stop' commanded Vienne. She was still afraid of Elsie, she always had been since the night she caught a glimpse of how evil she could really be, but now, with Naboo's power coursing through her, she felt strong again for the first time in years.

Elsie stopped suddenly. Regaining control, she turn back to them slowly. 'How- ah' she said, catching sight of Naboo. 'Shaman, are you? I thought there was something about you. No matter, you wont stop me.'

'Why wont you just leave me alone!' shouted Vienne. 'Give up, go home! Its been twenty nine years, aren't you bored by now? I hadn't seen or heard anything of you for months before this, I-'

'What, did you think that I had just given up?'

'Yes! You'd been after me almost non-stop for years, and then all of a sudden, nothing.'

'Do you know why that was? It was because he came back to me. I was almost happy, I'll admit. But then I found out his filthy secret.' She said with disgust.

'Which was?'

'He said he was in love. I couldn't believe that anyone could love something so disgusting as him, and I was right, the person he loved had run off. But it wasn't just any person, oh no. Not a woman who could have done far better and probably has. It was a man, some filthy jazz fan called Harold or something. As if he wasn't enough of a freak already, a man!'

'So what?'

'Oh come on Vienne. You can't honestly be trying to tell me that you'd be happy if Vincent told you he was in love with a man?'

'Of course I would, he's my son, I love him no matter what!' shouted Vienne. Naboo felt a wave of dizziness as part of his power drained out of his own body into Vienne's. 'But I wouldn't know, would I, because you took him away from me! I had to leave him and-'Naboo applied a little more pressure to her back and she caught herself just in time. 'And.. I missed his whole childhood, everything! I don't even know my son, but I still love him!'

Now all the fear and anger Vienne had been struggling with burst out, as Naboo's power poured into her to give her strength and defend her against Elsie, who would undoubtedly try to fight back.

'And you, you had all those years with Gregg, and you didn't love him at all, just because he was different! So what, everyone's different! He's still your son, you should love him no matter what, but you couldn't, could you? You had to have a perfect, 'normal' family to fill up your cosy suburban house didn't you? But that was never going to happen, no-one could be normal with a bitch like you for a mother!' she finished.

Elsie looked shocked, then, keeping her eyes on Vienne, magically did something to Vince that made him cry out in pain. _Keep her gaze, stand your ground_ Vienne heard Naboo's voice from inside her head, only this time he sounded a lot weaker than before. _Focus on destroying her, doesn't matter how, just keep thinking about her being gone._

Vienne did as she was told, and felt a stab of guilt and fear as Vince cried out again. Determined not to let Elsie hurt her son again, she focused everything, all the fear and loss she'd felt over the years, into power and tried one final time.

Elsie screamed briefly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Vince fell to the floor, free. He shook his head then checked his trousers for scuff-marks. Vienne hurried over to him. 'Vince, are you ok, how badly did she hurt you?'

'I'm ok.' He said, sitting up properly. 'It hurt, but it was only a sharp pain, its alright now. Certainly wasn't as bad as that time Howard tried to nail a saxophone to his wall and hit me with the hammer. I couldn't apply eyeliner neatly for weeks.'

Only then did he look around the flat. 'Where's Naboo?'

The tiny shaman had collapsed behind Vienne when Elsie had been destroyed, and was now slumped on the floor next to the sofa. Vince hurried over to him 'Naboo!'

His heavy eyelids opened slowly. 'Get Tara.'

Vienne hurried to the bedroom which Vince hovered awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

Tara looked away from the window as soon as the door opened. 'Finally, what the hell's been going on, I heard Vince yell, is he ok?' she asked, fear in her eyes.

'He's fine, but… well…' Vienne trailed off.

Tara looked at her in confusion and hurried out into the living room to see what was going on. She saw Naboo's curly-toed shoes poking out from in front of the sofa. 'Naboo!' She ran round to see him properly. 'Oh my god!'

Vince moved out of her way as she knelt next to him and he opened his eyes. 'Tara.'

'Naboo what happened, what's wrong?' She asked, cradling his head in her hands.

'My powers are drained…. Kiss me' She obliged, and he opened his eyes again with the appearance of having gained a little more energy. 'I need to rest in my room.'

Tara and Vince lifted him between them and helped him onto his bed.

'How did you get rid of Elsie?' Asked Tara. 'Bucket of water?'

'She wasn't the wicked witch!'

'Sounds like her'

Naboo asked Vince to get him a glass of water to take with a potion that would help him get better, then briefly told Tara what had happened.

Vince walked into the living room to see Vienne at the sofa. She was hurriedly packing up her handbag, tears streaming down her face.

'What're you doing?' asked Vince.

She wiped her eyes. 'I'm so sorry Vince, I shouldn't have come, I'm sorry. How's Naboo?'

'Hey, Naboo'll be alright, he might only be small, but he's strong. Like one of them ants.'

'Still, I think I should go.'

'Alright, but stay here a minute, yeah?' He went back to Naboo's room. 'Hey Tara, Vienne's leaving.'

'What? Ok, will you stay with..' she indicated Naboo.

'Course.' He said as Tara hurried out. 'Alright mate?' he asked, giving Naboo the potion before proceeding to tell him that what he'd done was actually quite similar to something he'd seen on Colobus the Crab the other day.

'You're leaving?' Asked Tara.

Vienne at her. 'I don't know what else to do. Vince was right, you don't need me.'

Tara thought for a moment. 'No, I don't need a mother, but.. I could always use a new friend.' She finished hopefully. She wanted to see Vienne again, these past two days had gone so fast and been so confusing, she wanted time to get to know her better.

'Are you sure?'

'Sure. I mean, there's no danger of Elsie coming back now, she's gone for good, right?'

'I think so, but you should probably check with Naboo. Can you.. can you thank him for me, please? I couldn't have done that alone.'

'Course.' They stood awkwardly for a moment before hugging briefly. 'So, um, maybe I'll see you soon yeah?' asked Tara. 'This is my number, if I don't answer its because I'm driving.' She explained, scribbling it down on a nearby piece of paper. They said their final goodbyes and Tara let her out of the flat, before returning to Naboo's room to find him asleep.

'Is he ok?' She asked Vince.

'Yeah, he said he just needed to rest a lot to let his powers rebuild or something.' He shuffled over a little to give Tara room to join him on the bed next to Naboo. 'Pretty amazing eh?'

'Yeah' She said, taking Naboo's hand and looking down at him. 'Thank you.' She whispered, kissing him lightly on the forehead.

About 10 minutes later there was noise from the stairs – Howard and Bollo were home. 'Anyone home?' called the self-proclaimed Jazz Maverick loudly.

'Shh, in 'ere' said Vince, ushering them into Naboo's room in the knowledge that Tara wouldn't want to leave him alone. 'Where on earth have you two been, we coulda used your help.'

'What happened to Naboo?' asked Bollo. 'He look like Chinko when he fainted at Beatles concert'

* * *

'_Get up in your room and stay there!' shrieked Elsie at her son. _

_Head bowed, he stepped obediently up the stairs. Waiting at his window was Vienne from next door; she'd obviously climbed up the tree again. He let her in and slumped on the bed._

'_What's she done now?' she asked, taking a seat on the floor. He shook his head in reply._

'_You've got to get out of here Gregg' she continued. 'She's crushing you, you should get out, see the world.'_

'_The world won't wanna see me though.' He sighed. 'Not being like this'_

_He was referring of course to his 'downstairs mix-up', which made his mother hate him. He wasn't the normal son she'd wanted, he was a freak. Apparently._

'_Gregg, that doesn't matter.'_

'_Matters to her' he mumbled._

'_That's because she's a bitch. Don't look at me like that, you know she is. You should get out, see the world Gregg. What's the worst that could happen?'_

**My superific thanks go to Noel/Julian/whoever it was that thought of the whole Chinko thing, for giving me something to end with!**

**I have a few ideas for the next couple of stories, but they probably won't be up for a while becuase I have boring boring boring exams to do so I have to do revision. And if there is a new story posted, you have to shout at me for being naughty and procrastinate-y, ok? Please review!**


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